In the Yard

Ever since we bought our house, we have been enjoying our yard.

 

 We spend a lot of time in our backyard. We draw with chalk, we race, play chase, play in the sprinklers, and many other things.

Here we are with bubble blowers my parents got the girls:

Elyse loves the grass!

One day I took one of our moving boxes and brought it outside to decorate.

Water fun:

We don't spend much time in the front yard since it gets a lot of sun, but sometimes we go out and water our trees:

Sharing the water.

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO thankful for our house and our yard :)

Elyse Turns 5 (part 1)

(Before I go on, I know this is looong overdue)

When I asked Elyse what she wanted to do for her birthday she said she wanted to run through the sprinklers and have a pinata, so that's what we did.

The day before her party, Elyse helped me make her cake. She wanted a Stawberry cake with vanilla frosting.

 As the time for the party approached, grey clouds were coming through and there was some thunder in the distance. There was a good chance that this outside party would be held inside :(. Thankfully right as the party started the clouds cleared and it was a great day to play in the water.

 The kids had a great ime running through the sprinklers and playing in the pool.

 Anastasia's favorite part might have been the chips :)

 PINATA TIME!

 This pinata was so hard to break (Toby even hit it a few times). We finally took it off the fence so the kids could smack it on the ground for awile.

 Caleb finally got a hole

 and then Levi finished the job.

 Dillan and Elyse hanging out

 At the end of the party we played "pass the parcel." We learned this game from some friends from South Africa while we lived in Singapore. It was a big hit.

A package (or parcel- said with an accent ;)) is wrapped in multiple layers. Within each layer is a small surprise. Kids sit in a circle and pass the parcel as music plays. Whomever is holding the parcel when the music stops gets to unwrap a layer and get the surprise.

 All the party guests:

 Levi, Elyse, Caleb, Anastasia, Dillan, Mason

 and Maddie:

 After the party Elyse opened her gifts. I love this picture because you can see how much she likes this Belle doll by the look in her eyes.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELYSE!